1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to heat dissipation and particularly to a heat dissipation device for computer add-on cards.
2. Description of Related Art
To enable increased functionality, desktop and other computers normally employ supplemental circuitry mounted on removable add-on cards. Specifically, to enhance display capability, graphics cards are often implemented. Such cards comprise a separate dedicated processor, called a GPU (graphics processor unit). The GPU generates considerable heat during operation. When the temperature of the GPU exceeds a certain threshold, the GPU may malfunction, or even fail outright. For this reason, a heat dissipation device is commonly installed onto the GPU to dissipate the heat generated by the GPU and other electronic components adjacent thereto it into the surrounding environment.
Conventionally, the heat dissipation device comprises a solid base, a plurality of fins arranged on one end thereof and a fan mounted on the other end thereof to accelerate airflow across the fins. The base attached to the GPU and mounted on the graphics card absorbs heat generated by the GPU. However, only a part of the base, usually the center, contacts the GPU. Heat generated by the GPU is directly absorbed thereby and is not well distributed to other parts of the base. This results in overheating of the middle part of the base, while the temperature of the other parts of the base remains lower. The fins on the other parts of the base away from the middle part of the base are not effectively used, resulting in an overall reduction of efficiency of the heat dissipation device. In addition, each of the fins conventionally has a flange extending from a bottom edge thereof and soldered to a top surface of the base to fix the individual fin thereon. The flange of each of the fins is narrow enough that connective integrity thereof is too weak to securely fix the fin to the base in use. As a result, the fins are in high risk of suffering disengagement from the base, thereby being forced into a sympathetic vibration and producing noise in response to high-frequency vibration from the running fan.
Accordingly, what is needed is a heat dissipation device addressing the described limitations.